Land/Sea Airport Pickup Info

[Corryn]

Hello,
We're going on the 3 day Land/4 day Sea tour which "officially" starts on a Thursday, our on-site resort being Carribean Beach Resort.
However, since we have such a large group and want to take advantage of the full 3 days at the park, all of us are traveling into Orlando on Wednesday night and staying at the Carribean Beach Resort that night (which we paid extra for) and then we will have to switch rooms the next day.
Our travel agent told us we will have to bring our bags to the front desk in the morning and then a CM will bring them to our newly assigned rooms, where we'll stay for the next 3 nights.


My question is:
Since we are coming in on a Wednesday night does the Disney Cruise Line Charter Bus pick us up at the airport or do we need to find another way to the resorts?

On the WDW-INFO site, it reads:
The benefits of this 'all inclusive' vacation are evident, as they include unlimited admission to the theme parks during your stay, your resort room, transportation/transfers, and of course, the cost of your cruise .......When you arrive at the airport and check in, it's the last time you'll see that luggage until you arrive at your resort.

You are met in Orlando by a representative from Disney Cruise Line who will direct you to a waiting motor coach. Since you've tagged your bags, Disney will locate them and load them on to the bus for you. Then, you take the 20 minute ride to your resort, where your bags will be waiting in your room when you check-in (or shortly thereafter).

Now, my travel agent from the getgo stated to us that we need to find our own transportation from the airport to the resorts. I am very confused. Does anyone know this answer?

Also, after the cruise is completed, we get on the charter bus to go.....Where?

Thanks!!!

 

[videogal1]

Originally posted by Corryn

My question is:
Since we are coming in on a Wednesday night does the Disney Cruise Line Charter Bus pick us up at the airport or do we need to find another way to the resorts?
Thanks!!!

My experience:
You will find your own transport to the resort from the airport for your Wed. night stay. (Mears, town car, limo, your choice....)

You have to tell the TA that you want DCL to transport you to the port from the resort and then from port-to airport. The arrangements should be ironed out with the TA so your cruise docs. will be correct.

By the way, the CMs at the resort will happily transfer your bags to a new room, if necessary, while you are at the parks, if you notify them of this at check-in.

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

I believe you lose your DCL ground transfer option from airport to resort when arriving a day early for your land/sea. We are also doing land/sea and arriving a day early. Our TA said we need to find other ground transportation from airport to port. We will still have the option of using DCL transfers from resort to port and from port back to airport though, because that is still on the land/sea schedule.

You might want to look into towncar transportation from airport to resort. Some folks use towncars/limos for all ground transportation. The prices are very reasonable. Good luck!

Tink

 

[Corryn]

Thanks, Ladies
I don't like that. It's like you lose a half day to almost a full day if you come in on that Thursday, and I feel like they penalize you for coming in what would be for us, really, only a half day in order that we get to experience the Full Three days at the parks.
My TA said she would find us another coach, but I thought, why pay for it if DCL is giving it to us for free?
But I get it now.
Thanks again

 

[DL_DCA_fans]

We came back a month ago from our land/sea cruise. We flew in a day early because we got tired of doing the red-eye and we wanted to take full advantage of the parks.
If you bought the transfers, you can still use them to get to the resort. You just don't get the DCL rep meeting you as you get off the plane. Also, you must retrieve your own luggage. After getting your luggage, proceed to the Mears Shuttle counter. Give them the Airport-to-resort transfer voucher. They will give you a ticket to ride on the Mears Shuttle bus to your WDW resort. As a side note, the DCL busses are operated by Mears.
When you get to the check-in counter at the resort, tell them you have booked a one night stay and that you have another reservation for the DCL land/sea cruise. We were able to stay in the same room for our entire stay at the WDW resort.
About 3-4 days prior to the start of our vacation, we faxed a request letter to the resort (ie, non-smoking room, you want to stay in a certain area of the resort, you have two reservations and you want to stay in the same room for your stay at the resort, etc). I have read other posts (from the resorts board) that some resorts are ignoring these requests. We felt fortunate to have received all of our requests.

 

[Lorij]

Do we need to contact Mears ahead of time to use them? We are also thinking of coming in the day ahead and were wondering about the transfers. When we get the docs in the mail, is there coupons or something to use for the transfers?

We've been to WDW several times, but this is the first time for us doing a cruise. We are doing the 4 day land/3 day sea package.

 

[lvmymcky]

DL_DCA_fans-thanks for the info! We are arriving two days before our land/sea package and staying at another resort but your info on the transporation sure helps.

 

[cristit14]

We also did a land/sea and added a day onto the land portion. We were told that we wouldn't have a disney rep meeting us and that we would have to pick up our bags and go to the Mears counter for pickup. We were very surprised to see our name being held up on a DCL sign when we got to the terminal. There was a very nice CM waiting for us. She took us over to baggage claim so we could get our bags and then waited with us until our bus was ready to go. She gave us some good tips of things not to miss while at WDW.

We stayed at CBR also and we didn't have to change rooms at all. That was very nice.